App development, design, and promotion, tips, tricks and thoughts to help you make awesome apps.

Thursday, June 14, 2018

I was reviewing the announcements from WWDC and thought that as my takeaways are likely to be different from those of other developers (and that I've seen them share) I'd thought I'd call out what I think is important.

Support the devices that the people using your apps have. What people use is more important than supporting the latest devices.

Shared experiences are important for people (group facetime) and the adoption of new technologies. (AR games)

Integration with the platform/OS (such as SIRI Shortcuts) helps people integrate the services and functionalities your app provides with the how people use their devices.

Platforms change, evolve and may not be around as long as your app. (end of OpenGL) While using no 3rd party tools isn't an option, it's important to be aware of the wider ecosystems and changes around the tools and utilities you use so that if they go away or become deprecated in favor of a new alternative you won't be caught by surprise.

People are mobile, not just devices. People even move more than some (phone) devices. Your app experiences may be more useful if they exist on more than a single device type. That may mean using the same app (or an emulated version) or a customized version of it.

Watch what is new and popular in competing apps/platforms and, if appropriate, replicate that functionality. (In Windows Dark Mode has been VERY popular with some people. It only makes sense for that to come to MacOS too.)